ecoATM green business

A local (San Diego) company is doing well by doing good – recycling used personal electronics via a kiosk. ecoATM showed up on Lead411’s Technology 200 list for fastest growing start-ups. In its early days, ecoATM was supported by EvoNexus, the incubator associated with the CommNexus industry group. ecoATM uses diagnostic technology, machine vision and AI to evaluate and buy back used electronic devices for cash or store credit. The majority of kiosks installed to date can be found in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

Recycle and re-use are the quickest, most efficient means to living more sustainably and reducing our consumption of declining natural resources. According to the ecoATM site, the production of a single phone creates 3 tons of mining waste. Phone disposal puts 75,000 tons of toxic cadmium, arsenic and mercury goes into landfills annually. There are 3 billion electronic devices (phones, printers, computers, monitors) in American homes according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Many are broken or no longer in service.